The Long Lost Son
by CharmedPotterHPH
Summary: After someone goes through tragedy, Chas is about to go through a rude awakening and life as she know it will never be the same. Chas and Cain didn't know they were related until recently in my story, you'll find out why. I don't own anything and I am making no money off this story. Rated T may change to M at a later date.
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

A young boy, with striking sea green eyes and beautiful black hair, was tossing and turning during his fitful sleep in the uncomfortable seat of the aeroplane that was currently high in the early morning sky.

A few hours later the young boy, named Matthew Brigant, was pushing a large trolley full of suitcases through Heathrow Airport, his eyes glancing in every direction as if he was searching for something or someone. It was moments later that his eyes saw what he was looking for, a large sign bearing his name and the rather unremarkable man who was holding it. The man noticed Matthew walking towards him and immediately asked him to confirm his identity.

"Please, let me help you with your belongings." the driver requested as soon as Matthew confirmed he was who he said he was. After helping him load his luggage in the car the driver and Matthew set off on a rather long drive towards a place he never visited and never thought he would visit in his home of his mother and the village where she lived. Emmerdale.

 _ **Chapter One**_

It was dark outside when a mysterious black car pulled up outside The Woolpack. There was no one around to see the the vehicle stop or wonder what such an obviously expensive car was doing in such a small village. The only visible light was that of the moon in the night sky and the street lights as well as the bright light seemingly pouring out of the pub.

It was a wary young man that stepped out of the car, looking around as if he was taking in his surroundings. He stood patiently waiting on his driver to help him unload his luggage from the back of the car, once everything was removed the driver pulled out what seemed to be a card reader as the young boy took a small black card and inserted it into the machine.

"Thank you for your help mr Lee, I appreciate it." the young man said expressing his gratitude towards his driver who instantly replied with a seemingly practised response "It was my pleasure Mr Black".

Once the vehicle disappeared from Mr Black's eyesight the boy took a deep breath ao as to calm himself before continuing on a clearly difficult journey. Dragging his suitcases behind him he made the harrowing journey into the pub.

As he opened the doors to the pub all noise ceased and all eyes immediately turned to the newcomer, who was definitely the most interesting person to arrive in the small and secluded village.

He made his way towards the bar, desperately trying to ignore the eyes and the barely hushed voices that followed him.

"Hello pet, what can I get you?" the middle aged lady behind the bar asked him, her words breaking the trance that the rest of the village seemed to be under. "Um, I'll just have a pint of coca cola please." he answered deciding that it would be best to at least have a drink and a reason for staying whilst he waited. after paying for his drink he sat down at an empty table observing those around him, looking at each person as if trying to see if they were the one he was looking for. He appeared calm only the slight twitching of his legs gave his nerves away.

A loud raucous laughter pierced the calm quiet that had settled over the pub as a petite woman with luscious locks of black hair clambered her way through the doors of the pub almost falling over herself. The young man had stood up just as the laughter pierced the air, an empty glass in his hand. When he noticed her his eyes immediately went as wide as saucers and his grip on the glass loosened sending it to the floor with a loud crash startling everyone out of their stupor including him.

The woman noticed the way his eyes were glued to her, the way that he was drinking in her every feature with his eyes, and questioned in a loud, obnoxious voice "What you staring at me for?" her screeching voice broke his trance and his eyes clouded with anger at the fact that she didn't seem to recognise him and he answered in a voice dripping with venom "of course you don't recognise me. It's not like you'd recognise your 'long lost' son is it Chas." using air quotes when saying 'long lost'.

The woman, now known as Chas, sobered up instantly the alcohol induced joy disappeared leaving no trace that she was ever happy, her face a pale ashen white as his words finally sunk in. her response only furthered his anger towards her "Aaron? What, how, what?!" her stammering didn't stop him from being furious with the woman that had given him up at birth.

"Oh so I'm not the only son you've given up then, no I'm actually Matthew the kid that you had with Michael Brigant sixteen years ago, ring any bells you slapper." The middle aged woman behind the bar didn't seem to appreciate the argument they were having or the words Matthew was using and immediately told them to stop it or get out, leaving both Chas and Matthew stunned but staring at each other, one with eyes full of sorrow and the other with eyes full of hatred. And the rest of the pub staring at them in unconcealed fascination.

Hearing them words Chas immediately sobered up and looked torn between questioning Matthew about his life and running for the hills. She chose the second option and ran out of the pub as if there was a demon chasing her, and there was a demon of the past finally having caught up with her, leaving her 'new' son all alone in a strange pub full of people who would practically kill him with the questions that she couldn't handle hearing.

Matthew was unaccustomed to the staring, even though his father was one of the richest and most famous businessmen in the world they still lived a sheltered life, being directed at him and immediately went to follow his mother out the door of the pub but as he started he remembered that he would rather have as much distance between them and tried to shut out the staring by sitting at the bar and ordering another pint of coke from Diane.

When Diane had a free moment she went over to Matthew to make sure he was alright, after all he had his head in his hands and looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Are you alright pet?" she asked with a concerned frown on her face which made Matthew feel guilty for worrying her.

"I'm fine, nothing for you to worry about" he answered with a shaky smile hoping to convince himself as much as her. It didn't work for either of them and ended up with Diane calling to her sister Val to cover for her. "Come on through the back with me, you look like you could use someone to talk to, oh and bring your bags" Diane said after Val agreed to cover, already walking through the back.

Matthew picked his bags up and followed her, thinking that it would at least get him away from all the stares and whispered questions being thrown around the pub.

Chas ran from the pub, stumbling quite a few times, in the direction of the homestead which housed all the Dingles, including her, wanting to just get home and lie in bed feeling sorry for herself and for the son that she forgot she had.

As soon as she got there she was hounded by her family all questioning her about why she was crying, all except her father Shadrach, but she brushed them off hoping no one would know about the happenings in the pub just a short while ago. Her hopes crashed when her half brother and cousin,same mother different fathers his being her uncle Zak, Cain barges through demanding answers about what he had witnessed, Chas' emotions making her forget that he had been there. This immediately caught the attention of the rest of her family, all of them wondering what Cain was on about, who started questioning her until she burst and shouted hysterically "I've just seen my son who I haven't seen in sixteen years and he hates me" before running up the stair ignoring their demands for further answers until Zak intervened and made them save their questions for the next morning.

Going through the back of the pub following Diane, Matthew found himself getting increasingly hurt by his mother's actions not knowing that he had tear running down his face.

Getting to the living room Diane immediately set him down on one of the sofas and went about making some tea for them before she started questioning him hoping for him to let some of it off his chest.

Placing the tea on the coffee table, Diane turned to Matthew and asked him soothingly "so are you going to tell me what that was or am I going to have to take up mind reading in my spare time?" being comforted by Diane's voice and little joke Matthew told her of the last few months of his life where everything seemed to go down hill, starting with his father's cancer diagnosis and having to cope with that and then his father's non stop alterations to his will making sure that everything was perfect for when he died and not even trying to fight off the terminal illness and going on to talk about how his father convinced that the cancer would kill him slowly and painfully and now that everything was sorted for after his death he didn't want people to remember him as some weak shriveled thing on a hospital bed, so he convinced Matthew to help him plan his own suicide he said he wanted to go peacefully and in his own bed so he would need some assistance which was where Matthew came in. He managed to convince Matthew to pour a deadly mix of medication down his throat so that he could go quickly and painlessly not realising the mess that he would leave him in with the police. He then spoke about how he was found not guilty of murder as his father didn't have any quality of life and he was seen as doing a justice for the dying man, and then on to his father's funeral and will which stipulated that he was to go live with his mother who would have minimum control of all his assets until he turned 18, and then about how he didn't even know his mums name until the will reading and that he didn't want to. Dian listened patiently letting him get it all out before wrapping her arms around him in a hug as he cried tears that had been held in for far too long.

Matthew slowly sat up, once having gained control of himself, and began apologising for spilling all of that to Diane who immediately shot him down and told him stop fussing about,

"Now have you got anywhere to stay tonight?" she asked once he calmed down.

"Not really, I hadn't thought that far ahead I was more focussed on finally being able to meet my mom and shout at her for everything she hasn't done for me." He replied

"I thought as much, right then I'll go get a blanket and some pillows and you can stay here tonight" she said putting her hand up as he started to protest "no arguing I mean it, I am not letting you leave this pub tonight and then tomorrow you can find your mother and have it out with her then."

"Thank you, for everything"

"your welcome. Now go make yourself useful and help in the pub, do you know how to pull pints?" at his nod of confirmation she set him off to work "well go on then can't have you moping about all night."

It was around half past one in the morning before the pub was ready to be locked up and Matthew was dead on his feet after saying a quick goodnight and thank you to Diane and Val he crawled on the sofa under the blanket and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

It was the next morning, Matthew had just been woken up with a cup of coffee off Diane. After moving into a sitting position, so Diane could sit down with him, Diane asked him a question that had been bugging her for most of the morning

"so where does a sixteen year old lad like you learn how to pull pints?" She didn't ask him judgmentally she just asked him fascinated.

"Well I was fourteen, and my dad owns… owned a lot of clubs, guess they belong to me now, and I was fascinated with how to run a bar so during the hours it was closed my dad allowed me to learn how to work the bar so that I had something to do." Matthew replied happy to have some happy memories of his father to reminisce about.

"Well, whoever taught you did a good job you can come behind my bar anytime that you like." she said smiling.

Matthew had finished his cup of coffee now and was groggily wiping at his eyes and asked Diane if it was alright for him to have a shower, after getting confirmation he reached into his bags and pulled out some clean clothes.

Whilst in the shower, Matthew was thinking about the previous night and the small screaming match that he had with his mother and was wondering if there was anything that could have made it better. After thinking on it for a while, so long his skin was practically blistered, he decided that if she had realised who he was then it maybe could have been better but otherwise there wasn't.

Chas had just woken up, she had a banging headache and her face was stained with tear tracks, she had this really overwhelming feeling that she had done something terrible last night but she wasn't sure what it could have been apart from drinking too much. She decided that in order to relieve her headache she should have a shower, and maybe that would help her remember what she knew she was forgetting.

During the shower Chas realised what it was that she had forgotten, she had met the child she had abandoned last night and he was all grown up. As she thought on it further she remembered that she had mistaken him for the wrong son that she had left and that it had damaged her relationship with her estranged son before it had even begun. Wondering if there was anything she could have done better she realised there wasn't all the problems of that night lay with her.

Finished with her shower Chas made her way downstairs, she was greeted by the rest of her family with a few sympathetic smiles and a cold glare off her brother and her niece,Debbie.

"Let me guess, you've all heard about last night." She said to the assorted bunch.

"Oh love, I couldn't go ten steps this morning without anybody asking me about the new member, unfortunately I couldn't give them any answers cause I don't have any myself." Lisa, Zak's wife, said with a pitying gaze.

"None of us have any answers, because she won't tell us nowt, I mean we didn't even know about the little blighter till last night. So go on sis, tell us all about him." Cain said scathingly, not caring about his sister's feelings in that moment.

"There's not much I can tell you, I had him when I was twelve and his dad was eighteen, gave him to his dad as soon as he was born and hid the pregnancy and birth as much as possible." Chas said to her brother getting horrified glances from the rest of her family. Realising why they were looking at her like that she backtracked "It's not like he knew I were twelve, he thought I was eighteen, after all I was always good at making myself look older than I actually were. No, Michael was a good man, he did everything he could to help me during the pregnancy and was horrified when he found out how old I actually was."

This appeased her family a little but the way they were still looking at her made her realise that they all wanted to meet her son, the only problem with that was he didn't want anything to do with her so why would he want anything to do with her family.

Coming out of the bathroom feeling nice and refreshed, Matthew was still thinking about his mother. Actually, he was thinking about his mother's family and whether or not it would be wise to speak to them. Deciding to talk to Diane about it Matthew made his way downstairs with his clothes in hand.

Entering the living room Matthew saw Diane sat at the kitchen table with a hot mug of tea in between his hands, he moved to put his dirty clothes in his bag when Diane startled him by exclaiming that she would wash his clothes for him, thanking her he sat at the kitchen table pondering on how to start the conversation about his mother's family.

"Diane?"

"Yes pet"

"I was wondering do you know anything about my mom's family?"

"Yes I do, what do you want to know?"

"Well everything, but mainly just who there is and how they're related to me."

So Diane proceeded to tell him everything she knew about the Dingles and how they were all related, which unless you were a Dingle wasn't actually that much, but she gave him all the information she could.

"Now, how about you come help me get this place ready for opening."

Matthew did as he was directed by Diane and her overbearing sister but his mind wasn't really on the job as he was thinking on what Diane told him about his family and wondering how he could get to know them without making an effort to get to know his mother. Seeing his mind was elsewhere Val decided that she would shake things up a bit by talking about the previous night.

"Well lad, you caused quite a stir in here last night." she said coyly.

"Oh really, how's that?" he replied

"By showing up and announcing who were like you did, most exciting thing to happen this month definitely people are gonna be talking about this one for a while, all wondering why you decided to show up now and not anytime earlier."

"Well then they should really mind their OWN business then shouldn't they" he said rather testily but it gave val the hint she needed.

"I was only saying love no need to get snappy" she said before walking off making sure to get the last word in.

"Ignore her, she like every other gossip doesn't know when to shut her mouth, well shall we?" Diane popped up pointing to the door as a sign that it was time to open up.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Matthew stayed in the pub all day, helping Diane with odd little jobs as Val had left her on her own leaving them short staffed and without enough time to get in relief staff. People were really surprised that Matthew was working in the pub after all they all heard him clearly say that he was sixteen but they didn't have any problem with it as they got the chance to stare and whisper about him as well as discover new things about the object of their gossip.

Chas had just come home from work. As she walked through the door of the Dingle homestead she knew immediately that they were going to suggest something that she wouldn't find enjoyable.

"What's with the faces?" she asked, already having suspicions.

"We were thinking of going to the pub…" Zak said

"Right, well what's the problem?" she wondered, she enjoyed going to the pub

"well, you see, sis people have been talking about how Matthew seems to be working there as well as living there now." Cain replied fearing how his sister would take the news.

"I am not going to let that stop me from having a drink in my local pub, if he wants to start something, let him it's not going to ruin my night it will mean he still wants to know me and talk to me if only to shout at me."

"right then, let's get going shall we?" Zak asked, more like commanded, and they all went to the van to load themselves in it.

It was around seven in the evening when a loud gaggle of people seemed to swan through the door all laughing at what an older male seemed to be saying when all noise stopped in the pub. Wanting to know what the cause of the silence was Matthew looked up from the pint he was pulling to see his mother in the midst of an odd looking group of people. Assuming they were the rest of the Dingles, as they matched the description Diane gave him, Matthew ignored them and went back to his customer.

"That will be two dollars and fifty cents please… sorry I meant two pounds fifty pence, still getting used to the different currency" he said as the customer just laughed handed the money over telling him to keep the change.

The Dingles decided that would be the perfect time to find a table, with Zak and Cain making their way over to the bar to place their order.

"We'll have six pints please, when you're ready lad." Zak said coming to a stop in front of Matthew.

"Be with you in a second." he replied after getting someone, an old lady, a large glass of sherry.

"Six pints was it?" he asked as he came to a stop in front of them after handing the glass to the lady.

"Aye it was lad."

"That will be fifteen dollars... pounds, that will be fifteen pounds." taking the money he then added "I'll bring them over shall I?"

"If you would ta"

Five minutes later, Matthew brought the six pints to the table the dingles surrounded and placed them in the center.

"So are you the famous Dingles that I've heard all about?" he asked in an attempt to be nice.

"Oh aye, who's been talking about us?" Cain replied looking at Matthew with cold hard eyes.

"Nobody, Diane told me about you after I asked a question, that's all." he started to walk off when he turned around and took twelve pounds fifty pence out of his pocket.

"Before I forget, this round's on me." he said handing the money to Zak who immediately said

"Why are you paying for our drinks?"

"Well you're my family ain't ya." he replied before turning around once again before having to turn back as Zak said

"There's two fifty missing."

"Well, that's cause I didn't pay for one of your drink. I'll let you guess who's. Enjoy your night"

"Sorry about that love." Lisa said to Chas who looked forlorn about the exchange between her son and her uncle.

"At least he acknowledged my existence, sort of" she said back before taking a drink of her pint, "in fact I'm going to make him acknowledge my existence, I'm going to talk to him."

"I don't think that's a good idea love"

"well I do" she said getting up.

"Mind if we go in back"

Matthew turned around at the voice and looked horrified at the prospect of talking to the person he hated the most in the world talking to him, but before he had to reject the 'offer' Diane spoke up

"of course you can" she said, before whispering to Matthew "you need to talk to her, pet"

Seeing he had no choice, he turned around without making sure she was following making his way to the living room.

"Well, this is cosy isn't it?" Chas asked sarcastically, breaking the silence in the room.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" he replied bluntly, no emotion creeping into his voice.

" Why do you hate me so much?"

"Where do you want me to start?" Matthew began angrily, "How about the time where you abandoned me, or the times that you didn't send me a birthday card, or a birthday present. I know, how about the time where you forgot I even existed, that memory should be pretty fresh in your brain."

"I wasn't good enough to look after a kid at that time. I was twelve I had no job and my dad was hardly sober at the time. I don't know how I was expected to raise a kid. I thought I was doing the right thing leaving you with your dad and not knowing me, but I see that maybe I was wrong."

"You think. Look I don't know what you're t7rying to achieve but if it's a relationship with me you're looking for I'm sorry but I am not interested. Now can you leave me alone, I'm tired." he finished before walking upstairs leaving Chas on her own almost crying.

Matthew collapsed on the stairs almost in tears himself before continuing his ascent of them into the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

Matthew spent about twenty minutes in the bathroom, listening for the sound of his mother. As soon as he heard she had gone he slowly crept down the stairs just in case anyone was looking for him. He had finally calmed down from the fight with his mother but he still felt emotionally drained and was not in the mood to deal with an interrogation. Matthew walked back into the pub wondering if there was anything else he needed to do when he saw a young woman at the bar nursing an empty glass.

"Can I get you another?" he asked her gently so as not to shock her but it didn't work, the woman jumped in her seat as if she had just been shouted at, and when she saw him she became freaked out and stood up to leave.

"I was just going thanks." she replied before scurrying out of the pub.

Matthew was just stood there wondering what he had done to scare the woman away before going back to work.

Matthew noticed that there wasn't anyone else for him to serve at the bar so decided that it would be a good idea for him to start collecting the empty glasses. As he made his way around the pub he made an effort of avoiding the table the Dingles surrounded until he could no more, as it was the only table in the entire b]pub that still had empty glasses on it. He made his way over slowly anxiousness starting to spread round his body, as he wondered what his mother would have told them about what happened between them in the back. his anxiety was well placed as both Zak and Cain started shouting at him for his horrible treatment of his mother giving him no time to argue his own point. The more they shouted at him the more angry he got at them until he snapped and dropped the glasses to the floor before saying "You know I don't have to deal with this" and storming into the back room grabbing a bottle of vodka on the way.

Matthew was wandering the streets around Emmerdale taking a drink out of the bottle every other step. He was barely walking in a straight line he was that drunk, but he liked the feeling it meant he didn't have to think about his mother or his father. It wasn't long until he had finished all the vodka in the bottle and when he noticed he got very angry and threw the bottle down on to the road before trying to find somewhere he could get more. He managed to make his way to Hotten, the closest town to Emmerdale, which housed many bars. When he got to the first one he managed to somehow get in the place even though he was underaged. As he made his way to the bar he was stopped by some guy that he didn't even know, when they noticed his drunken state they thought they may be able to take advantage of him and kissed him obviously hoping for something more. Once he managed to realise what was happening Matthew immediately pulled away and stormed out freaked out by the encounter.

Matthew wandered around the streets of Hotten, his mind still on the kiss, he was embarrassed about it but also confused because he actually enjoyed it, but he knew that he also enjoyed the kiss of a woman too. He decided to try and find his way back to Emmerdale so that he didn't have to think about it any longer but he didn't know where he was and he had no way of contacting anybody to pick him as he managed to forget his phone in the pub.

The Dingles were enjoying a quiet drink in the homestead when the phone started to ring. Lisa picked it up and when she heard what the person on the other line was saying she immediately became very worried.

"Who was it love?" Zak asked her

"It was Diane, Matthew hasn't been back there and she doesn't know where he could be." she replied which instantly set everyone on edge, especially Chas as she couldn't help but feel it was her fault for his disappearing act.

"well did she say anything else like were his bags gone as well or just him?" Chas demanded.

"She just said that he was gone and that his phone was still at the pun so there was no way of getting in touch with him." Lisa responded.

"Then what are we waiting for we should start looking for him."Chas retorted

"Hold on a minute sis, why should we go looking for him it's not like he cares about you or us?" Cain challenged to which Zak responded angrily in place of Chas

"We should go looking for him because he's family and Dingles always take care of family got it!"

Matthew was walking around in circles it seemed, that was the bad thing about living near the countryside all the roads looked the same and if you didn't know where you were going then you could get lost quite easily. When Matthew noticed that it seemed as if he was walking in circles he started freaking out, his breathing became heavier and it seemed as if he lost control of his body. He wanted to scream but he couldn't find the breath to do so and he started panicking really terribly.

Chas was wondering what was taking everyone so long to find her son and she started sobbing erratically

"Why is no one even trying to find my boy? He could be anywhere." she screamed hysterically before Debbie wrapped her in a hug so she could cry into her chest.

Matthew was now sat on the floor when he saw some bright lights ahead of him he noticed that it was a car he jumped up, the sight of the vehicle calming him down instantly, finally he was saved. Someone had found him and he could go home...


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

The bright lights were getting closer and closer with each passing second. Matthew had sobered up exponentially and was now scared instead of relieved, 'Oh My God, what if they're kidnapping me or worse?' He thought.

The vehicle slowed to a standstill and the silhouettes of two men were visible, one quite large and the other quite small but both equally as tall, and they started moving closer to Matthew. Matthew backed away slowly, too frightened to think of the self defense training that his father made him do until he was a black belt and could knock anybody out practically blindfolded, not knowing who was actually there.

"Matthew is that you lad?" a loud gruff voice exclaimed breaking the silence of the early hours of the morning.

"Zac?" he replied feeling a lot calmer hearing the familiar voice letting out a sigh of relief.

"aye lad, now get in the van you're coming home with us" Zac replied

Matthew got in the Van trailing behind Cain who was giving him evils all the way back to the village, probably for hurting his sister and making her panic whilst he was drunk.

He was still tipsy when he entered the Dingle homestead, When he opened the door Chas was there wrapping her arms around him and crying into his shoulder not caring that he was as stiff as a board, All the family seemed to be there to welcome him back and tell him that they were happy he was safe. Matthew didn't know what to think he didn't actually know any of these people and they were already treating him like family. But then again he didn't know that the Dingles had a 'law' that told everyone to stick by their family know matter what and that family loyalty was the most important thing.

It was almost three o'clock in the morning when Matthew managed to get to sleep, all he could do was think about his mother and the rest of his family. Before he arrived in Emmerdale everything seemed so black and white, he hated them and they didn't even know about him so there was no point wondering what might have been. But now he had mixed feelings, he still wasn't particularly fond of his mother but he couldn't say with complete honesty that he wouldn't want to get to know her and maybe change things between them.

It was now eight o'clock in the morning, Matthew hadn't slept very well and after tossing and turning for several hours and not much sleep he decided that it would be better if he went downstairs and got a head start on the day. When he got downstairs he was surprised to find that he wasn't the only one awake, and unfortunately it wasn't the person that he would have liked to see the first thing in a morning. Chas was sat at the table at the bottom of the stairs with a mug in her hand staring into space, and startled when one of the stairs creaked to announce his arrival.

"You alright love, bed comfy sleep alright?" she rambled unaware of how much more uncomfortable she was making the already difficult situation. Deciding to make things easier for the both of them Matthew decided to answer with a simple "yes" which had the effect of making her gobsmacked at the actual fact he spoke to her. Deciding to make some headway of her own she decided to make him a cup of coffee before realizing that she didn't actually know how he liked his coffee and that it would be more awkward if she asked, but she wouldn't be Chas Dingle if she didn't do the awkward things in life, especially for those she loved.

"I was just gonna make a brew love, want one?" She asked him, aware that he would probably ignore her.

"Yeah, go on then I have coffee two sugars and a splash of milk." He replied. Chas wasn't sure what surprised her most that he answered her or the fact that he knew what a 'brew' was, she didn't know that he asked Diane after she had mentioned it to him once.

"Look, I know we haven't had the best of starts and most of that was my fault but I was wondering if you would be willing to put that behind us and maybe start again?" Matthew asked her, shocking Chas enough to make her spill the hot water all over her hand. Screaming in pain Chas started waving her hand around until Matthew grabbed it and forcefully shoving it under the cold water.

"What d'ya go and do that for ya stupid cow?" he asked her half seriously and half jokingly.

"I didn't do it on purpose did I!" She replied before continuing desperately " did you mean it when you said start again?"

Offering no reply other than nodding his head in confirmation, Matthew started looking for some dressing under the sink and in any cupboard in the kitchen.

"Do you know where a first aid kit is?" he asked her and in reply Chas pointed behind her at the large box that was full to the brim with dressings and bandages and other such things. "Thanks" he said before wrapping her hand in a bandage and telling her to get it checked out.

"Right I'm going for a shower, maybe we can go to the cafe later?" he asked whilst walking back up the stairs not even waiting for a reply.

An hour later Matthew came back down out of the shower looking every bit the typical rich kid, dressed in designer and somehow not looking absolutely stupid in it making Chas feel simple and plain in what she was wearing.

"How do I look?" she asked him hoping for a complement .

"NIce, but what ya getting dressed up for it's only the village?" he laughed at her before asking her "right are you ready, let's go."

They spent about four hours in the cafe. They were getting to know each other in every way possible, both of them wanted to know all the good and the bad leaving nothing out. Chas mentioned the time that she was in the army and all the times that she had Aaron and the trouble he got into and Matthew mentioned all the celebrity parties that he went to and all the times his dad let him do stuff he probably shouldn't have.

It was closing by the time they decided they had enough of the cafe, Matthew suggested they go to the pub.

"Are you sure love, things didn't go well last time we were there." Chas mentioned but Matthew was adamant.

"Exactly, I need to show my face and I need to apologise to Diane and pay her back for the vodka." He replied which made perfect sense to Chas in a weird way.

They walked in the pub laughing and Matthew was recounting some tale or another when he noticed how quiet the pub became on their arrival.

"What's everybody staring at? Can't you see a mother and son are bonding?" Matthew said sounding so much like Chas in that moment many people became weirded out and looked away guiltily and a little shell shocked. Chas was looking for a table whilst Matthew decided to go to the bar.

"Diane, could we get a pint and a coke please?" he asked when Diane came to him. Diane nodded mutely and gestured for the money but before anything else could happen Matthew spoke again "I'm really sorry about last night, I was just stressed from keeping it all in for so long, anyway really sorry."

"It's alright pet, but if you ever steal alcohol from my pub again there will be trouble d'ya hear."

Matthew nodded handed her the money and took the drinks to the table.

Overall things were starting to look up for Matthew lately.


	6. Chapter 6

_**AN: This features a bit of a time skip, the previous chapters were set May 2006, this chapter is set just before July 13th 2006. Matthew has accepted the Dingles as his family after they saved him and has reconciled with Chas. He still works at the pub for Diane though.**_

 _ **Chapter 6**_

It was early in the morning when Matthew woke up. He had been living with the Dingles for just over a month now and he still got confused about his surroundings sometimes. He turned over to check the time and was shocked to find out that it was only 6:30 in the morning, deciding that it would be pointless trying to get back to sleep he decided that he would have his shower and make his breakfast.

After his shower Matthew wasn't surprised to find his mother downstairs when he got out of the shower. It seemed Chas had developed the knowledge of the exact time he woke up in the morning and always made him a coffee to help start his day.

"Thanks Chas." He said lifting up the mug. He still found it weird to call his mother mom or mum.

Chas' face dropped a little at her name but she soon perked up and started babbling on about what he thought they should do with their day but Matthew had to put a stop to it when she mentioned a day trip somewhere.

"I can't go anywhere today, Diane asked me to help in the pub today last night and I agreed." He said slowly and quietly, not actually wanting to upset her but knowing he would.

"Oh, well then maybe we can spend time together on your break, we still have a lot of catching up to do." She said after a few moments of silence and Matthew unable to deny her again agreed and went back upstairs to get dressed for what would obviously be a busy day in the pub.

It was now 12:30 in the afternoon and the pub had been pretty quiet, the Kings up at Home Farm were unveiling a new show home on the river and it seemed that was the place everybody wanted to be. Diane seeing how bored Matthew was not having anything to do and the emptiness of the pub told him that there was no point him being there and that he might as well go home. Matthew knew that he shouldn't argue but he didn't want to leave Diane in the lurch, and said as much to her.

"Go on and do something I'll be fine." She told him, giving him no other option but to agree and go.

"Hey Chas we can finally go on that day out you were talking about." Matthew spoke, startling Chas out of her daydream. Matthew noticed that her face dropped every time he called her Chas but pretended not to, he was getting closer to calling her some form of mother in his head but nowhere near it in the real world.

"okay sweetie, just let me go to the loo real quick." She replied leaving him feeling a little awkward just stood in the middle of the pub waiting for her.

As they walked down to the Dingle's homestead they kept up a steady rate of conversation that covered nothing important and nothing of interest to either of the two but still kept them from wandering in awkward silence that they had only just gotten away from in reality. They arrived at the homestead and their conversation moved onto something more important to the both of them.

"So what do you want to do?" Chas asked her son, not knowing that Matthew had already decided that if he had the opportunity he would go and get his father's affairs in order after his sudden departure at the will reading Matthew had no real idea of what was going to happen to his father's money and had called ahead to make sure his lawyer was in the country so they could finally sort things out.

"Well I was thinking of maybe talking to my lawyer and getting my father's will sorted out properly, I didn't exactly stay in the States to hear the will." He replied. Chas knew how much his father meant to him, and thus knew the importance of the will and what it represented to Matthew. It represented the acceptance that his life was still moving on and that maybe it was time to do a little catch up so as not to get left behind.

"Okay just let me get the keys for the van and we can go meet him." She agreed instantly and less than a minute later she had the keys to the van and was buckled up in the driver's seat with Matthew in the passenger's side.

"Right so tell me where am I going"

"Well I asked him to stay in Hotten but I don't know exactly where he would have stayed, let me just call him and make sure" Matthew was on the phone for around five minutes finding out where his lawyer was.

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the hotel where the lawyer was staying. When they got to his room Matthew was surprised to be greeted by the lawyer as every other time he'd met with him he never once met him first there was always an assistant.

"Right let's get on with this I don't want to be here much longer." Matthew said to the lawyer, making him wonder where the young boy he knew had gone when faced with an impatient tone.

"Right um of course Mr Brigant. Your father's will stated that absolutely everything be left to you, as you know you were the last member of your father's family and he wanted to make sure you were well looked after, he only had one stipulation that until you turn eighteen you aren't allowed to manage the finances at all it will be your mother that does so with a limit of seven hundred and fifty thousand a year on frivolous items and that you are only allowed an allowance of two and a half million a year so that you don't waste the fortune. Is this agreeable to you?"

It took Matthew several moments to process what was said and when he thought about the part of his mother having the main control over the money he had to think extra on what he was about to say.

Chas interpreting his hesitance correctly said "look love if you would prefer I wasn't in charge of the money then I'll let you pick someone else" it hurt her to say it as it meant acknowledging that she didn't think he trusted but she knew it had to be said. Chas's words made the decision for Matthew.

"Everything is perfect thank you, where do we sign?"


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

Chas and Matthew had decided to stay in Hotten overnight. Matthew because he didn't think that he could handle being around so many people just after hearing his father's will and Chas because she couldn't handle leaving her firstborn son right after such an emotional moment. They were both aware that they hadn't said much since the will reading but it wasn't uncomfortable, it was awkward but it wasn't uncomfortable. Each of them wanted to say something to each other but neither knew how to start. Chas wanted to thank him for trusting her with his father's money and Matthew wanted to thank her for proving trustworthy.

"Right kidda, I think it's time we headed home." Chas said. It was the next morning and there had already been some calls from worried family members,Zak and Cain. Chas wanted them back before anybody really started to worry about them, luckily for her Matthew agreed with her which as fortunate so as not to start the day off with an argument. After signalling his agreement Matthew went into the bathroom to wash himself and change into some other clothes.

The drive home wasn't really that awkward. They were both silent and found it hard to start a conversation but it was a comfortable silence that came between them, a sign n how far they had come in just one day. It didn't take them long to reach Emmerdale or the Dingle homestead and they were back home and settled once again within the hour. Neither of them expected anybody to be home and so they were surprised that every single member of the Dingle clan seemed to be piled into the small living area.

Matthew was the first to really notice and couldn't help but ask them "why are you all here, shouldn't you be at work?" Matthews voice seemed to snap them back into reality and everybody stood up looking at him and Chas as if they had suddenly grown a million extra heads. It was Zak who answered them.

"We thought that you may have been in danger after Chas didn't answer our calls so we took the morning off work to wait her in case you came home. If you didn't come home today we were gonna call the pigs and get them looking for you." The answer seemed to satisfy Chas but Matthew couldn't help but wonder why they didn't try searching for them if they thought they were in danger instead of just waiting for them, then he noticed his 'grandad' Shadrach and realised the real reason they stayed home. Deciding that it would be best for them to know a little bit of why they were gone for so long Matthew decided to tell them a little snippet of the previous days events only slightly changing them.

"Well there was no reason to worry, I got a call off my dad's lawyer and it turns out that i needed to go to the will reading I thought Chas might be able to provide some support and afterwards I was too emotional to consider coming back here so we got a hotel and stayed the night. No need to worry."

The Dingle's loved his reason because they saw it as a sign of acceptance and trusted him to be completely honest with them all except for one, Cain saw the way Chas and Matthew looked at each other but decided to wait until it was just the three of them before saying anything.

"Alright, what was all them looks about earlier?" Cain asked Chas and Matthew as soon as they came in the doors of the Woolpack. Once again Chas and Matthew looked at each other both asking the same question 'should we tell him?'. "Look you might as well tell me, I ain't gonna stop asking."

"It's nothing alright, stop your worrying." Chas replied before going to the bar getting a drink, as Matthew made his way to follow her Cain put his arm out to stop him.

"Whatever this is you might as well tell me."

"Look I have no idea what you're going on about, Uncle Cain." Matthew said with a cheeky grin before making his way behind the bar.

"Alright then mother dearest, what can I get you?" Matthew asked Chas, who seemed shocked at the fact he was behind the bar.

"Nothing alright and you can get out from behind the bar before Daine kills both me and you." She replied.

"Diane knows she asked me to okay," He said before getting a glass from under the bar "pint?" Chas couldn't do anything but nod.

It was later on in the evening and Chas and Matthew were making small talk at the bar when the peace and quiet was destroyed. A fight had just broke out in the middle of the pub. No-one wanted to stop it they were all enjoying the show, that is no-one except Matthew. He got between the two brawlers and managed to stop them fighting before saying.

"Look I don't care who you fight or when you fight, my only issue is you fighting in the middle of the pub I don't care who you are but if you wanna fight you better do it outside before I chuck you out or get the police involved. Got it!?"

"That's a bit rich coming from a Dingle init?" one of them asked, which was quite stupid because the next thing he knew he was being dragged by the arm and chucked out on his arse by said Dingle.

When he was back inside the pub everyone stared at him in shock which he decided to break

"If anyone else has got a problem tonight you'll get the same treatment as him."

It was two hours before closing when Diane got back. She noticed that there was a quiet over the pub and that there was no passionate conversations or any conversations for that matter going on and she was quite surprised and wanted to know what had happened in the time she had been gone. After she asked Matthew and he answered her, she looked at him in shock as well which Matthew was noticeably uncomfortable about.

"I only did what I thought was best and no one else was doing anything." he said defensively

"Well that's a rite of passage that is, stopping your first bar fight and at least you didn't say you'll have them barred that would have been a terrible thing to say."

Matthew had just finished behind the bar and noticed that Chas seemed to be waiting for him, when she confirmed this he told her that they may as well go home then there was nothing else for him to do.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

It was a few months after the bar fight were Matthew completed his 'rite of passage' and things were seemingly going down-hill for Matthew. His mother, Chas, had just announced that she had joined the army which Matthew understandably hated. He thought that his mother would want to spend as much time as possible with him, after all they were still getting to know each other. He avoided Chas like the plague after her 'special' announcement all whilst trying to come up with a plan to stop her going.

"I just don't understand why she joined the army, I've only just come back into her life and now she wants to go and potentially get herself killed. You've got help me uncle Cain I don't know how to convince her not to go." Matthew could be overheard saying to Cain, Chas' brother, in the pub one afternoon.

"Look kid, I get it you're upset I'm annoyed as well but it's your mother's decision and she isn't gonna change that for anybody so you're better off not even trying." He replied not knowing of their little eavesdropper who came in the form of his sister.

"Cain's right, I am joining the army and it's better off if you don't try and stop me." Chas said coming into view and making herself known. MAtthew upon hearing those words looked devastated but levelled Chas with a hard glare.

"If that's your decision then you can say goodbye to me you spiteful little bitch. Diane I'm going on my break!" He said to chas before shouting over to the landlady of the pub. He then stormed out of the pub pushing both Chas and Cain out of the way when they tried to stop him.

Matthew entered the Dingle homestead in a fit of anger slamming the door and breaking everyone's concentration on whatever it was that they were doing, he managed an apology before sinking into the couch with a stroppy look on his face.

Zak and Lisa knew what had gotten into the young lad and could understand what he was going through, they decided that they should try and help him by getting him to talk to Chas and explain how she was making him feel.

It turned out that they didn't need to do much trying as not two minutes later Chas entered the homestead as well.

"Can you give us some place please?" she asked everyone else in the homestead knowing that the conversation wasn't going to be one either of them would like the others to hear.

After everyone cleared out Chas sat next to Matthew and they sat their in silence before Matthew decided to speak.

"Why are you joining the army? Am I not good enough to make you wanna stay?" he asked her and Chas seemed dumbfounded but she answered his questions.

"Of course you are love, but I signed up before you came back into my life and now that the opportunities here I can't say no this is something that I've always wanted to do."

"Okay but why now after we've only just started to bond properly, I mean I've lost one parent, met my other parent and now I'm on the verge of losing you and if that happens I don't think I could cope, you're the only one that's helping not succumb to the despair of losing my father more than I already am."

The look on Chas's face showed that she really hadn't thought about that and that she as really hating herself for it.

"Love, I get that now but I promise that I will not leave you no matter what this is just something that I've gotta do. I need to know if I'm good enough to do this AND I can't know that unless I go" She said raising her voice slightly when he made his way to say something.

Matthew had a look of understanding on his face but he still made it clear that he wasn't happy about her decision.

"I'm not happy with this but I guess I can support you and if you don't come back alive and in one piece I am so not going to your funeral." He said laughing, Chas looked at him shocked but realised that he was just joking and laughed with him.

Just then the door opened and Zak poked his head through it looking sheepish before explaining that they heard laughter and wondered if it was safe to come in.

Chas and Matthew looked at each other before Chas replied "Yeah, we've sorted it out now."

Matthew and Chas walked to the pub together wanting some quality time before her taxi arrived later that day. When they entered the pub Chas was surprised to see a that there was a party going on for her in honor of her leaving for the army. She looked at Matthew and realised that the party was his idea, a way to say that he is going to support her no matter what.

They partied for a few hours with Chas only having a couple of drinks wanting to stay sober but that didn't stop her from having a good time. They heard the sound of the taxi beeping his horn and Chas and Matthew looked at each other before she headed out.

"Chas wait," Matthew called out to her before sweeping her up in a massive hug "I'm gonna miss you mom." He released her from the hug with tears in his eyes before she left happy with the support she was getting and overwhelmed at being called mum for the first time sincerely even if Matthew did say it in an American accent.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9**_

It was a couple months since Chas had left for the army. Matthew had taken some time to settle into a new routine but he had managed to do so, however, he still missed his mother and was hoping that she would come back soon hopefully safe and sound. Unfortunately for him that wasn't going to happen, at least his mother wouldn't be uninjured.

It was the early hours of the morning when Matthew woke up, he had this feeling that something was going to happen but he didn't know what it would be. His feeling was confirmed a few hours later when his mother entered the homestead, everybody was awake now and they were sat around the table enjoying breakfast together before they all went about their jobs, Matthew with the pub and the others doing what odd jobs they had that day. When Chas entered she wasn't surprised to see everybody was awake in fact she was glad for it as it meant that she didn't have to surprise everybody with her return or the cast that she was sporting on her leg.

Matthew looked up when the door opened and immediately dropped his cutlery in shock as he stood up ready to greet his mother.

"Mom." He said softly gaining the attention of everybody else who hadn't cared to check who entered the homestead, used to people from the Dingle clan coming and going as they pleased, before he rushed towards her noticing her leg but still sweeping her up in a hug that to mother and son seemed to last forever and it still wasn't long enough. It was moments later when they were forced to separate at the insistence of Zak so that everybody else could greet her in a similar fashion.

"Not that I'm unhappy to see you but how come your back mom?" Matthew asked five minutes later when everybody had greeted Chas and they got her settled into the couch to relax, asking the question that everybody had on their minds. Chas took no time in answering.

"I can't exactly fight with a broken leg so they sent me back home to recuperate and to decide whether I want to stay on, they've given me the option of leaving if I choose to." She replied making Matthew smile so big that it almost split his face in two.

"Alright, everybody let's leave these two to catch up we best be going." Zak said to the rest of the Dingles.

Once they were alone Matthew and Chas just sat there basking in each other's presence they missed each other more than they would be willing to admit. They spent the entire day catching up with each other and just talking about anything and everything, with Matthew phoning Diane and telling her the reason that he couldn't go into work for the day.

"So you still work at the pub then?" Chas asked, not surprised that he still wanted to but more surprised that he and Diane were getting away with having someone underaged work th bar.

"Yeah, we've been questioned a few times about my role in the pub, but we just play it off as one of Marlon's relatives that has a lot of time on his hands and just likes to help him out so that works." he told her stunning her with the ingenuousness of the cover story after all Marlon would never rat them out =, one was his boss and the other was his cousin so it was foolproof and if before she left was still true now everybody liked him behind the bar so they wouldn't rat him out either. She was happy that he had something to do, especially something that seemed to enjoy and was really good at.

Two weeks after Chas' return saw the arrival of someone else to the village, someone who Chas was sure she would never see again, it was the only other child of Chas Aaron. The entire Dingle clan was in the Woolpack, Matthew once again behind the bar, when Aaron arrived. He was accompanied by his father (Gordon) when they didn't see Chas upon their immediate arrival Gordon went to the bar to ask her whereabouts.

"Hiya mate, I was wondering if you could tell me where Chas Dingle was?" he asked Matthew who immediately became suspicious.

"Who wants to know?" he replied hoping to get as much information as possible.

"I'm Gordon, Gordon Livesy, the father of Chas' son Aaron." Gordon answered quickly, as if he couldn't wait to be out of the village.

"RIght, well she's just gone to the toilet but you can wait, oh look she's just come back" he said stopping mid sentence as Chas indeed just come back into the main room Matthew decided to shout her over. "Mom Gordon's here." he added the word mom just for Gordon's benefit. At hearing her ex husband's name she stopped dead and nearly crashed into a table, at the same time Gordon looked at Chas in shock.

"Mom, you never told me you had another son let alone one that was living with you." he said to the woman who still hadn't moved any closer to them, "so do you want to tell me where you've been hiding him all this time." This seemed to knock Chas out of her stupor as she made her way to the bar almost angrily.

"Hiding him, I haven't been hiding him at all. In fact I thought he was with his father for the last sixteen years and we hadn't spoken or seen each other until a few months ago so you might want to shut up and tell me why you're here and then go." She said to him her voice betraying the anger she felt towards him. Gordon didn't expect Chas to speak to him so heatedly about a son he never heard her talk about but it didn't stop him from finishing his task.

"I'm here to drop your son off, ohh sorry your other son, he's been around german measles and I can't risk him being around Sandra when she's pregnant, so I thought you could have one more chance at being there for him." The way Gordon was talking it seemed like Aaron was a nuisance and the only reason he took care of him was out of duty and not love but Matthew wasn't going to comment on it he wanted to know his little brother.

"Oh right, well then that's fine with me," she reached to Gordon and then looked at Aaron, "hiya love y'alright?" Without waiting for his answer Chas picked his bag up off the floor and steered him to a table before looking back at Gordon and saying

"Alright you can go now." Gordon realised that he had done what he needed to do and practically ran out of the pub in his effort to get away. Matthew decided that he didn't like his brothers father and let it be known to the rest of his family with a few sarcastic words.

"Well he's a lovely man isn't he".

* * *

Hours later the entire Dingle clan, minus Chas, were on their way to the homestead. Aaron was acting like a little brat about the fact his mother wasn't with them and everybody was quickly becoming fed up of it and him. Nobody more so than Matthew.

"Will you stop being such a dickhead?" he shouted to the little boy. His outburst stopped everybody in their tracks as nobody had really heard him swear like that before, nobody knew what to do about it but Zak noticed that Matthew was getting ready to smack some sense into the little boy he should be calling brother. In a quick decision he decided that it would be best to get Matthew away from Aaron.

"ALright that's enough, come on lad we're going back to the pub." Zak said as he grabbed Matthew's arm and steered him away from the family and back the way they came.

* * *

It was the next day and Matthew had decided that it would be best for him to stay at the pub for the duration of his brothers visit. He wanted to get to know his sibling but knew that if Aaron carried on whining and being bratty then he would do something he would regret, and this way it was easier for him to go to work. He knew that his mother wasn't happy with this decision but he told her that he didn't want to be there whilst his brother was because it didn't seem as if they could get along.

Matthew was in the bar getting everything ready for when it opened when he heard a banging in the door, deciding that the bar could wit he answered it. It turned out to be someone he knew would be visiting the bar a lot more than usual , Chas, she was stood there obviously just woken up in her pyjamas and was just about to bang on the door again if her raised fist gave any indication.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Matthew Asked her once he got her settled in the back room of the pub.

It was obvious she had been crying and she was shaking visibly with what Matthew assumed to be anger.

"What's wrong? I'll tell ya what's wrong shall I. Carl the wonderful man that he is reminded me how much of a scumbag he truly is by sleeping with Delilah when i were in the army. and if that weren't enough my own son decided to tell me just to prove how much he really hates me." She wailed, throwing herself on him as he calmly wrapped his arms around her and whispered comfort into her ear.

* * *

It was later in the day and Matthew was walking around the village when he saw one of the three people he really wanted to hurt.

"Oy! Dickwad." he shouted towards Carl who seemed unsure if the insult was aimed at him pointed to himself. Matthew stormed his way over to him and without any warning punched him clean in the face, resulting in a broken nose and bloody lip. Just as he was about to start throwing more violence towards Carl someone dragged him off , Matthew didn't care who it was and just turned back to Carl and said in such a calm vice that it was scary,

"Stay away from my mom or I'll kill you got it!" before turning the other way and storming back to the pub in hopes of sneaking some alcohol from under Diane's nose.


End file.
